


through tidal wave and asteroid and bomb (darling i will love you to the bitter end)

by knucklehead



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 22:26:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13374336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knucklehead/pseuds/knucklehead
Summary: Yesterday the world heard an announcement that a massive asteroid would hit the earth today.





	through tidal wave and asteroid and bomb (darling i will love you to the bitter end)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vystrx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vystrx/gifts).



The Avengers had been in the middle of a cozy Saturday breakfast when Fury had called. Tony had answered with some stupid joke without even thinking about it. Clint probably snickered at the joke, Steve choked on his scrambled eggs due to laughter.

But the world was ending and there was nothing they could do about it, so the laughs and smiles died out instantly. It was mission time. An asteroid was heading towards them out of nowhere, and it had been predicted that it would crash into earth in the next week or so. Tony and Bruce both got that look in their eyes, the one that they got whenever they were about to do something impossible. Every scientist on earth must’ve been looking for an answer along with them; Bruce and Tony spoke a million miles per minute for two days straight before realizing that there was nothing they could do. It’s not like they could launch earth's entire population on a rocket ship and get it far enough away for the passengers to not die. It was like the goddamn dinosaurs dying all over again.

Everyone had looked so hopeful when Bruce and Tony finally emerged from the lab. Steve had shut off the TV, looked up at Tony and god, the hope in those eyes should’ve been enough to save the world. The way that Bruce had looked down on the floor as soon as he saw the other avengers’ faces said everything they needed to know. They had been the world’s last hope, and fuck, Tony wished it was just some evil villain who had just decided to fuck up their lives instead of just the universe being a major bitch. In 12 hours they’d definitely be dead, and there was nothing they could do. God, there hadn’t even been anything to tip them off that the end of all days was coming.

They decided to spend their last days together - it’s not like any of them had anywhere else to go, or anyone else to spend time with. Tony put all of their favorite movies in a playlist and let the popcorn machine run wild. He kept looking at his digital watch, and the rest of them pretended that they couldn’t tell it was a countdown. Tony and Steve shared one of the two couches, started the day by sitting in the couch like normal humans and by nightfall they were both half-lying down in awkward positions. Bruce and the spies were in the other one. Natasha had her own corner. She had wrapped herself up in the one blanket that hadn’t been set on fire at some point and protected her popcorn bowl from the guys and tried focusing on the TV screen. Tried because her eyes flickered to Tony’s watch every few seconds. Clint was sat in the other corner, with Bruce leaning against him, using Clint’s shoulder as a pillow. Clint was running his hand through Bruce’s rough curls, so casually that it was almost like he didn’t realize he was doing it.

Bruce fell asleep during the third Jurassic Park movie. He was tired from lab work, and it was difficult for anyone to not fall asleep while nestled in the two spies, or at least that’s what Tony assumed. Natasha fell asleep after the movie, and Clint finally let his eyes shut in the middle of Die Hard. Light snores came from him, and his hands finally stalled in Bruce’s hair.  
Tony and Steve sat silent through yet another movie. The distance between them was shorter than it had been at any point during the night. Tony could hear Steve’s breathing, how he was trying to stay calm. Tony lowered the volume after the movie ended and the next started to play, looked down at his watch with a blank face.

“It’s supposed to end.” He almost whispered. “In an hour it’s supposed to end.” Steve hadn’t heard Tony be serious for a while now, at least not outside of missions. But now he was looking at Steve as if there was something on his tongue, something that he needed to say but he didn’t know the words.

“Tony.” And his voice was heavy, and Steve knew that once he started to talk he wouldn’t be able to stop until he was good and done, but he wasn’t going to let himself be silent until their death. “I need to say something, and I hate that I’ve procrastinated, but I don’t think that I could let the word end without saying it, you know?”

“I really don’t,” Tony said, confused.

“I really like you.” Steve said it in an exhale, letting the words fall out like it was a relief. “And when I woke up from the ice and saw you, my first reaction was that hey, if there’s a Stark here, the world can’t be too fucked up, right? And then the we were being attacked by aliens and we didn’t get along at all, and I just wished that I could go back to my time. But then… I got to know you, and you were nice to me. And you’re so goddamn smart, and wordy, and you keep trying to explain the 21st century, kept going over things that I learned in my very first debriefing and I wanted to tell you that. I wanted you to stop wasting your breath on repeating boring knowledge, but you got so fucking excited. You drift off topic constantly, forgetting what even started the conversation. You talk about your tech and interrupt yourself with ways of improving it. When you first showed me your lab it was like seeing someone coming alive. You’re so excited about the things that you love, and it’s amazing to see you like that, even if you’re just telling some stupid anecdote about Dum-E messing up. I love it so much.” Tony was silent for a moment, taking a deep breath and wrinkling his eyebrows like he was thinking things over.

“Do you write down speeches like that first, or are they all completely improvised?” He asked, and Steve knew it was just a way of trying to remove all emotions from this conversation.

“Tony. If the world would continue spinning tomorrow, would you have let us be something?” Tony ran a hand over his face.

“I like you, you know? You’re too god damn fucking good.” He had his eyes closed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And I can’t believe you just never stopped me from talking. I just thought you would see me like another Howard, and I didn’t want that to happen.” He stopped for a minute, picked up the remote to shut off the TV.

“The world is ending, let’s just… not think.” And then Steve kissed Tony.

They were both stiff for a short moment, not entirely sure how the other person would react, or how they themselves should do, but it quickly melted into something deeper, more confident. Once they stopped there was a completely different movie playing, and they pretended to watch it as they fought yawns, and when Steve fell asleep Tony couldn’t help but to look at his watch. Less than 10 minutes to go on this bitch of an earth. He tried to focus on Steve’s warmth instead, looked up on the hulk-and-spy pile on the other couch, couldn’t ignore how relaxed Clint and Bruce looked when all snuggled together. This was the end, and at least they would all die happy.

 

* * *

  
 

The next morning, Tony woke up.

**Author's Note:**

> …only the world didn't end.


End file.
